"Research shows that the implementation and uptake of High-performance Work Practices (HWP) practices within an organisation positively correlates with the rate of organisational growth, increased organisational profitability, higher job satisfaction, lower staff turnover and greater innovation and creativity within the workplace. HWP is defined as: ""a general approach to managing organisations that aims to stimulate more effective employee involvement and commitment in order to achieve high levels of performance… designed to enhance the discretionary effort employees put into their work, and to fully utilise the skills that they possess.’ Coaching MAPs (C-MAP) aims to help team leaders, mangers and organisations to improve their performance using a new coaching methodology called C-MAPs.C-MAP will develop a new pedagogical approach to work-based coaching. The project will enable two target groups of participants to access continuing VET opportunities training, thereby contributing to the priority relating to enhancing training for all. Firstly, C-MAP will train VET teachers/trainers in the use and delivery of the C-MAP methodology and VET course (IO1) and C-MAP Toolkit (IO2). The final Output will be a practical ‘how to-style’ guide called, Handbook for Work-Based Coaches.The project will impact on skills and performance of team leaders and managers as they will learn and implement new performance, solution-focused coaching techniques and skills in their workplace. As a result of C-MAP, both target groups will be better placed to further develop and support the skills and competences of others in the workplace using the C-MAP methodology.C-MAP will result in a new and innovative VET Curriculum and course designed to help 'the forgotten middle manager' to become a high-performance work-based coach using the new C-MAP methodology and course (IO1), the C-MAP Toolkit (IO2) and the newly created Handbook for Work-based Coaches (IO3). The project involves partners from Ireland, the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy and Bulgaria."

Flipping First has to do with teachers using active methodologies to improve motivation of students and to make the learning process more effective for them.FLIPPING FIRST project main objective of creating a framework to promote teachers to use FlipClass methodologies in VET. The main trend was looking at Flipped Classroom concept as the basis for a more general change of model which raises to a more “Student Centered” education, and therefore having a model of 'open school'.Specific objectives where to provide teachers with training to be able to use the methodology, and also with resources and courses to test the methodology with their students in 2 areas, Entrepreneurship and Tourism. This was done using The project partnership comprises of six partners in six European countries: Poland (INNEO - Studio Twórczego Rozwoju), Hungary (SZÁMALK-Szalézi Szakközépiskola), UK (Exponential Training & Assessment Limited), Belgium (ARTEVELDEHOGESCHOOL), Netherlands (Stichting Kenniscentrum Pro Work) and Spain (Jaitek Tecnología y Formación SL). Tangible results of the project are:- 10 video resources for teacher training, all of them in the 5 languages of the project (English, Spanish, Polish, Hungarian and Dutch)- 10 video resources for Enterpreunership also in the 5 languages as - the 10 resources for Tourism The 150 videos developed are all available in the Project Youtube Channel which has more than 6 thousand views.All the videos are classified by language and theme in playlists.Whit the resources, we have created 8 courses, also in all the languages. They have been created in the project moodle and are available for the teachers to learn about the methodology and tools, and for students so that their teachers can test right away the methodology with them.Of course the project has also created a web site and dissemination materials and several newsletters, all of them accessible through the website. The project will start with the development of the common communication and management tools and reports:1. Website, 2. Promotional materials.3. Dissemination Plan (communication and social networks) 4. Newsletters. (each six months in all partners languages)5. Evaluation Plan. 6. Exploitation plan. (To do during the last 5 months of project)The main activities of the project were:1. to create a FLIPCLASS HANDBOOK, which is a guide for teachers on how to use the methodology, together with the online environment of the project.2. To develop FLIPCLASS RESOURCES, where a total of 150 videos have been created, using Camtasia software, 30 in each language, for both teachers (teacher Training) and students (Entrepreneurship and Tourism)Besides those, we also:3. Create an online FRAMEWORK, based on a LMS as moodle, which was also enhanced by an installation of an eportfolio as Mahara.In these environment, 48 courses were created, 8 for each country in the project. Of those 4 were directly for teacher training4. Pilot the results with teachers and students, with at least 1300 participants among all the countries5. Make a Report with the results of all the questionnaires online answered by the participantsThe project had 5 transnational partner meetings to discuss project progress, resolve operational and financial issues and elaborate on project activities and ensuring the aims and outcomes planned were achieved.There was also one Staff training activity, and multiplier events in all the countriesto disseminate and expand results of the project.Dissemination of the project done by the partners will cover all levels, local, regional, national and European. The project was presented in the the “ I CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL Y V CONGRESO PSICOEDUCATIVO: EDUCANDO EL FUTURO”, held in Burgos (Spain) 23rd and 24th of November 2018, and included in the “Minutes Book” of the congress, with the same title “Flipping First: flipping the class, flipping the methodology”, and also an academic paper will be published with the title “Flipping First: an innovation proyecto in education through Flipped Classroom methodology” Sustainability will be achieved due to the partnership, which already has strong relations with several associations of educational institutions and work regularly with teachers”

Growing European Micro-enterprises (GEM) is about building High Growth Enterprise Coaching capacity and capability in Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Austria and across Europe. GEM aims to contribute to the development of an increase in the number of High Growth Enterprises throughout Europe. Project partners will:(1) Develop a High Growth Enterprise Coaching Framework setting out the competences and skills required by High Growth Enterprise Coaches, recognising the specialist nature of the role;(2) Create a specialist VET Curriculum and training course to develop specialist High Growth Enterprise Coaches;(3) Promote high growth enterprise coaching as a specialist form of business coaching.The project will develop and deliver two Intellectual Outputs:(1) GEM Transformation Portal containing 10-12 specialist Learning Journeys, checklists, tools and models, guides, other resources and a good practice forum.(2) A handbook entitled, ‘Growing European Micro-enterprises through High Growth Enterprise Coaching’. Growing European Enterprises (GEM) will create a new digital learning tool giving VET teacher/trainers access to a new open education platform called, 'GEM Transformation Portal'. The Portal will provide experienced VET teacher/trainers and coaches with continuous professional development opportunities. It will also contribute to developing the next generation of High Growth Enterprise Coaches.The GEM Transformation Portal will be built around a new High Growth Enterprise Coach Competence Framework. Initially, the GEM Transformation Portal will be translated into English, Dutch, Spanish and German with the aim of making it available in additional languages in the longer term.To widen the impact of the project still further, partners will also publish a handbook called, 'Growing European Micro Enterprises through High Growth Enterprise Coaching' which will also be available in the four languages. The handbook along with the GEM Transformation Platform will contribute to the development, success and sustainability of European micro-enterprises helping to build high growth business coaching capability and capacity across Europe. Currently, there is NO such programme for training and developing high quality Business Growth Enterprise Coaches - GEM will fill this gap.On completion of the project, partners will hold a series of national Multiplier Events and will seek to sustain and exploit the project results and Outputs with the aim of widening the impact of the project to other micro enterprises, SMEs and stakeholder throughout Europe. The project will run from October 2019 to September 2021.

Digital learning tools are being increasingly used by VET providers (e.g. MOOCs, LMS and on-line meeting platforms). The aim of LEAP was to create a ‘step change’ in the use of ePortfolios as process-based pedagogical tool to improve learner and VET provider performance. One of the main objectives of the LEAP project was to develop a multi-lingual, easy-to-use ePortfolio capable of supporting a range of vocational courses and to test the use open digital badges. To achieve this, partners developed a detail specification and wireframe diagrams and planned to hold a series on national pilots testing different types of courses from short courses to full diploma qualifications. The LEAP specification detailed the user access rights and functionality for four roles: (1) the local administrator; (2) learners; (3) assessors; and (4) moderators. The specification called for LEAP to include: a set of communication and notification features enabling users to be automatically notified of actions and up-dates to learner portfolios; course and unit progression measures designed to motivate learners; file upload and shared access areas; flexibility for partners to input their own courses based on the ECVET model with Learning Outcomes (LO) and Assessment Criteria (AC); and multi-level reporting tools to support moderation sampling and quality assurance in-line with Awarding Body requirements. A second key objective was to capture and share good practice in the development and use of ePortfolios. Partners planned to deliver a series of national pilots involving a variety of short and longer VET courses from a Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Leadership and Management to introductory IT and languages courses as well as technical courses for gas fitters/engineers. The range of courses resulted in LEAP being tested by a variety of different learners including college/university students, senior managers, and executives from business to technicians from the energy sector. The LEAP project planned to have an impact via set of dissemination and pilot activities on six target different target groups: (1) Teacher/trainers x 30; (2) Learners x 200; (3) VET/HE/FE Centres; (4) Partners (x 6); (5) European business community; and (6) VET Policy stakeholders.By the end of the project, partners had developed and delivered over 30 different VET training curricula/courses and had engaged 443 participants and 34 VET teacher/trainers in the pilot test – this is significantly more than planned. As well as producing an e-Portfolio Good Practice Handbook, a set of 20 case studies featuring LEAP users, partners also published a detailed report called, Taking the LEAP. The report sets out a series of recommendations regarding the development and use of e-Portfolios and digital badges in the context of VET. The report, the e-Portfolio, the User Guides and the Good Practice Guide were published in Greek, German, Portuguese and English. Whilst the COVID19 pandemic presented some challenges for the project, it also created some opportunities. For example, the Cypriot partners reported: “The piloting of LEAP platform with real online data was actually expedited because of the pandemic. It was a handy solution to overcome the restrictions imposed for onsite training. The first lockdown in March 2020 and subsequent restrictions were imposed a couple of weeks before the commencement of 3 courses involving 75 learners, 6 assessors for 50 units. The options were to either cancel the courses or take a chance with LEAP and in combination with Zoom to deliver the various units. The pressure from the learners themselves to attend online some of the course units was sufficient to lead us to the decision to test the LEAP platform on a real-life situation”. To share the product results and to ensure the wider impact of the LEAP project, partners implemented an extensive set of dissemination activities. The dissemination strategy involved nearly 200 separate dissemination activities and reached just under 85K people. The six Multiplier Events which were designed to showcase the three project products (i.e. the LEAP e-Portfolio, the e-Portfolio Good Practice Handbook and the Policy Report, Taking the LEAP) were attended by 184 people. LEAP continues to be used by partners. The UK partner is using it to support the delivery of its Chartered Management Institute Level 3, 5 and 7 vocational qualifications in Management & Leadership, Coaching & Mentoring and Professional Consulting. The UK partner has integrated LEAP into its overall digital learning strategy enabling its learners to access LEAP from inside its Learning Management System (LMS) ManagementDirect creating a seamless link from learning to assessment. All qualification assessment and moderation are now delivered using LEAP. By the end of the LEAP project 84 learners from the UK had completed a Level 3, 5 or 7 qualification in Management & Leadership, Coaching & Mentoring or Professional Consulting. The Irish partner stated: “ITT is looking forward sharing the benefits of this platform with other colleagues in the Institute in the future. ITT will merge on the 1st of Jan with CIT (Cork Institute of Technology) and will become the MTU (Munster Technological University). This means more staff will be available to be informed about the existence of the LEAP platform. It is envisaged that in the future, training session for the LEAP platform will be offered to colleagues across the Institute in the hopes that this platform will be adopted more widely across the Institute”. In the longer term, partners are considering how to increase the number of languages supported by LEAP thereby opening potential use of LEAP in other European countries and the potential for the licensing of LEAP enabling other VET institutes to benefit from using the LEAP e-portfolio.

Digital technologies are impacting not only on the way we work and play but also on how we teach and learn. It is creating opportunities for VET teacher/trainers, VET institutes and the VET sector to innovate how training and education is delivered. However, the adoption of these technologies remains slower within VET than in most other sectors. One study by the European Commission (Survey of Schools: ICT in Education) found that only twenty-five per cent of students in the European Union are taught by digitally confident and supportive teachers: another study by the OECD found that fifty-six per cent of teachers report that they have “moderate to high development needs” when it comes to using technology at work. Most VET teacher/trainers do not fully understand the potential of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) and how to integrate technology into their training. Building the digital skills of teacher/trainers and students is essential if European enterprises are to compete effectively in the global marketplace. One group that is often overlooked when it comes to technology skills training is VET teacher/trainers. Many find the pace of technological change frustrating. Others feel intimidated by technology in the classroom, especially as millennials have high expectations regarding the use of technology at work, at home and in learning. VET teacher/trainers and institutes need to embrace digitisation and modernise how they deliver VET courses: the sector needs to innovate, and design VET courses fit for the 21st. The E-Growth project to support the continuous professional development of VET teacher/trainers in the use of TEL within in VET courses. It will promote modern pedagogical, training methods and teaching practices, and develop learning materials and tools that support the effective use TEL. E-Growth will be executed by a partnership of six organisation from five different EU countries: CZ, UK, ES, HU and EL. The partners hip comprises an NGO, a university a VET centre and SMEs. Partners will demonstrate how VET teacher/trainers and VET institutes can develop and deliver TEL training. This will be achieved by creating a set of VET tools and resources which can be used in the delivery of entrepreneurship training. It will involve the design, development and implementation of a new digital simulation called, Entrepreneurs - Going for Growth, and the publication of an e-book called ‘A Guide to Using TEL in VET’. What makes this project innovative is that the E-Growth project will provide a complete package of materials and tools enabling VET teacher/trainers, VET institutes and other stakeholders to develop and implement their own TEL training courses. It will showcase the latest digital technologies and how they are being used within VET. The E-Growth project will impact on the professional development and skills of VET teacher/trainers. It will also impact on institutes and stakeholder involved in VET education by demonstrating how digital technology can support the development of new training and teaching methods and improve the effectiveness and impact of courses. Finally, E-Growth will contribute to the development of a modern and digital VET sector that is better equipped to meet the needs of the 21st students leading to a more digitally competent and productive European workforce.